About Cadwalader

At Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, we put over 225 years of legal experience and innovation to work for you today. As one of the world's leading advisors to corporations and financial institutions, we have earned a reputation for crafting innovative business and financial solutions and developing precedent-setting legal strategies to achieve our clients' goals. Find out what makes us different.

We stand out from our competition because we help you stand out from yours.

We are in the business of delivering results so the truest measure of our success is the success of our clients. By maintaining this focus, we help them to create and launch groundbreaking products, services, concepts and deals and to protect their interests.

Practice

With more than 350 attorneys in offices around the world, clients come to Cadwalader for our ability to handle groundbreaking transactions, complex litigation and novel issues arising in emerging areas of law. Our legacy of crafting innovative business and financial solutions continues today with our work on the most important transactions, disputes, and investigations.

News

Cadwalader attorneys are often called upon to comment on business, financial, political and legal developments around the world as well as on the implications of big deals, noteworthy cases, community news, and proposed legislation.

Breaking new ground.

From commenting on pressing legal and policy issues to explaining the implications of big deals and important court decision for the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, as well as a host of other leading news outlets, trade publications, and wire services our attorneys are sought out for their views and perspectives.

Resources

Cadwalader regularly publishes informative and educational materials, including newsletters and news alerts on a range of topics. Our portfolio also includes articles, industry programs, seminars, conferences, and videos.

From explanatory memoranda to pinpointed analysis, we provide our clients and friends with practical guidance in a variety of formats to help them to understand complex issues and make informed decisions about their businesses.

Careers

Cadwalader is a community of talented and driven individuals committed to excellence and innovation. Across departments, offices and borders, we share the common goal of providing world-class client service through the development of a culture that fosters diversity, collaboration and professional growth.

Cultivating Compliance

Aug 08, 2018

The term “culture of compliance” has long been a vague part of the financial and regulatory lexicon, and regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom are turning to culture once again with renewed vigor. Dorothy Mehta comments.

Dorothy Mehta, a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, said a culture of compliance is not really something that can be regulated by one set of rules. “What works for one shop may not work for another,” she said. “Shops are different sizes with different investment strategies and different investor bases so it’s not really possible to implement one set of rules that would apply equally to all of them in this area. That’s why guidelines work better to let firms know what they should be thinking about when putting their compliance policies and procedures together.”

The CCO should also be visible and present within the firm so that compliance isn’t just an ambiguous, hidden thing, Mehta said. “Compliance needs to be associated with a real person, a competent, respected firm leader that people can turn to with questions or concerns. The CCO should take the time to interact with people in the firm and get to know them and what they do so he or she is not seen as the ‘no’ person getting in the way of the business.”Mehta said employees must understand the firm’s reporting procedures, such as how to make a report and who to report to.

Mehta concluded: “You can never rest on your laurels when it comes to compliance. There has to be a constant review of what you’re doing and what works for you and what doesn’t. As your business changes, your compliance changes so you need to let your employees know what has changed, what is acceptable and what is not, and what is important to your firm at any given time.”